Jury retires to decide fate of Toyah Cordingley murder case

Cairns courts

Shaun Hollis

Senior Journalist

Email Shaun
Last updated:
The Supreme Court trial in the case of the murder of Toyah Cordingley is nearing its end.

The jury has retired to decide whether accused murderer Rajwinder Singh is guilty or innocent of killing Paws and Claws volunteer Toyah Cordingley on Sunday, October 21, 2018.

The 10-man and two-woman jury left the courtroom at about 3.15pm this afternoon to consider the evidence, with the much-anticipated decision now set to be made in coming days.

RELATED STORIES

Before leaving the court, the jury heard presiding Justice Lincoln Crowley’s final summation of the case, where he outlined key factors covered in the Cairns Supreme Court across the past few weeks.

Justice Crowley told the court there were several other people involved in the case, including tradie Evan McRae, who had left a note on the car of a woman at Wangetti Beach before October 18, and Joshua Richards, who had murdered a man at Mossman and was also banned from Paws and Claws.

He also spoke of Ms Cordingley’s boyfriend Marco Heidenreich’s alibi, with his friend Joel Cuman taking multiple photos of him at Spring Creek on the afternoon of the Wangetti Beach murder.

Justice Crowley told the jury its verdict must be unanimous, with the onus of proof resting on the prosecution, not the defence.

Before Justice Crowley spoke, Defence barrister Gregory McGuire KC gave his closing argument, where he talked of “huge gaping holes” in the Crown’s evidence.

Support public interest journalism

Help us to continue covering local stories that matter. Please consider supporting below.


Got a news tip?

Send a news tip or submit a letter to the Newsport Editor here.